Conference Call nected fields: from the isolated molecule to whole Malta III—Research and cellular systems, from the structure and reactivity of simple biological molecules to the investigation Education in the Middle East of the functionality of enzymes, nucleic acids, and by John M. Malin membranes, from looking at the fundamental physics underlying simple molecular processes to uses in clini- cal biochemistry. Known as “Malta III,” the third conference in the The participation of well-known specialists in dif- series, Frontiers of Chemical Sciences: Research and ferent domains of infrared spectroscopy provided a Education in the Middle East, was held in Istanbul, complete overview about the full potential of the tech- Turkey, from 8–13 December 2007. This remarkable nology. In this sense, it is worth mentioning the inter- series of meetings continues to bring scientists from esting lectures of Henry Mantsch, Dieter Naumann, Middle Eastern countries and other nations together Jürgen Schmitt, Rui Fausto, Ronald Birke, Urs Peter to discuss common problems and encourage col- Fringeli, José Luis Arrondo, Jean-Marie Ruysschaert, laborative research in the fields of energy, materials and Klaus Brandenburg among many others, which science, natural products, green chemistry, education, provided different points of views on the potential of and environment. FTIR. These perspectives definitely enriched the dis- Middle Eastern participation in Malta III was the cussions after each session. largest yet of the three conferences, named for the At the same time, the informal ambience of this island of Malta where the first two meetings were event also helped stimulate the interaction among held. Of the 90 participants, 67 were from Middle participants. This is particularly important for encour- Eastern countries: Bahrain (1) Egypt (9), Iran (8), Iraq aging open-minded younger scientists. (3), Israel—both Arabs and Jews (12), Jordan (9), The decision to hold the meeting in a “far away” city Kuwait (2), Lebanon (4), Palestinian Authority (10), such as Buenos Aires represented a big challenge. For Saudi Arabia (1), Turkey (4), United Arab Emirates (4). this reason, it was gratifying to have spectroscopists Other nations represented included Canada, Germany, from Asia, Africa, Europe, and America take part in the Norway, Switzerland, UK, and USA. meeting. This created a valuable human richness that As in Malta I and II, a multinational organizing com- was much appreciated by the participants. mittee chaired by Zafra M. Lerman from Columbia During this three-day meeting, 9 plenary lectures, College Chicago produced the event. Cosponsoring 10 semiplenary lectures and 10 short talks took place. organizations were the United National Educational, The first day was dedicated to the biomedical applica- Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); tions of vibrational spectroscopy. The second day, to IUPAC; Columbia College Chicago; American Chemical the physicochemical characterization of biologically Society (ACS), Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), and relevant compounds, and the third day, to the infrared Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh). spectroscopy of lipids and proteins. IUPAC’s financial support enabled the conference Plenary Sessions and Workshops organizers to cover some of the travel costs of the ple- A special feature of the conference was a series nary lecturers and also to provide grants to younger of six plenary lectures by Nobel Laureates Aaron participants, which constituted one of the most fun- Ciechanover (Israel), Richard Ernst (Switzerland), damental objectives of this meeting (to provide an Roald Hoffmann (USA), Tim Hunt (UK), Walter Kohn opportunity for young scientists to meet internation- (USA), and F. Sherwood Rowland (USA). ally recognized scientists in this field and to learn from The first plenary session was chaired by Hasan Salah them and develop their chosen professions). Dweik of Al Quds University (Palestinian Authority). In The success of the meeting encouraged the orga- his address, entitled “The Nature of Energy,” Peter nizers to consider FTIR 2007 as the first in a series Atkins (Oxford University, UK) presented an enlight- of meetings. After the event, the idea of organizing a ening overview of how the qualitative concepts of meeting in approximately two years was accepted by energy, entropy, temperature, space, and time have everyone. lead to development of the quantitative tools of ther- modynamics. Andrea Gómez-Zavaglia
CHEMISTRY International May-June 2008 31 Conference Call
discussed development of an important spectro- by introducing Aaron Ciechanover, (Nobel Laureate, scopic technique, “The Importance of the Fourier Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Israel), who Transformation in Spectroscopy: From Monsieur presented “On the Middle East and Converting the Fourier’s Calculus to Medical Imaging.” In the third Ubiquitin System Into a Drug Platform.” plenary session, chaired by Mehdi Jalali-Heravi, Sharif The organizers ensured that Malta III would provide University of Technology (Iran), Tim Hunt (Nobel significant opportunities for interpersonal interactions. Laureate, Imperial Cancer Research Fund, UK), dis- A poster session featuring some 42 presentations was cussed “The Cell Cycle and Cancer,” reviewing the carried on throughout the conference. Discussions genetic components of carcinogenesis and the current centered on the posters during morning and afternoon limits of chemotherapy. coffee breaks as well as before and after dinner. One The chair of the fourth plenary session was Hanan evening, Roald Hoffmann led an informal session of Malkawi of Yarmouk University (Jordan) who intro- Middle Eastern dancing. duced Nobel laureate F. Sherwood Rowland (Nobel Middle Eastern and other scientists presented their Laureate, University of California at Irvine, USA), who results in workshops that were held throughout the spoke on “Greenhouse Gases and Global Climate conference and which served to develop conference Change.” Plenary session five was called to order by recommendations. The Workshop on Environment: Venice Gouda, Former Minister of Research (Egypt). Air and Water Quality was co-chaired by Charles He introduced Roald Hoffmann (Nobel Laureate, Kolb (USA), Hanan Malkawi (Jordan), and Abdallah Al-Zoubi (Jordan). Catherine Costello (USA), Samira Islam (Saudi Arabia), and Stanley Langer (UK) chaired the Workshop on Medicinal and Natural Products. The Workshop on Nanotechnology and Materials Science was chaired by Mukhles Sowwan (Palestinian Authority) and Zehra Sayers (Turkey). The workshop on Science Education and Green Chemistry was co-chaired by Boshra Awad (Egypt), Farouk Fahmy (Egypt), and Ann Nalley (USA), while the workshop on Alternative Energy Sources was co-chaired by Hani Khouri (Jordan) and Hassan Zohoor (Iran).
Conference Recommendations Workshop participants urged that the conference recommendations should be carried forward to the appropriate agencies and authorities. An especially urgent need for action was identified during the Environmental Workshop when Yousef Abu-Mayla, director of the Water Research Center at Al-Azhar University in the Gaza Strip, described widespread degradation of water quality in Gaza. Malta III attend- Cornell University, USA) who spoke on “Chemistry ees unanimously adopted a communiqué to urge Bonds: Three intensive workshops for young scientists action on this issue (see Mar-Apr 2008 CI, page 18) in the Middle East,” detailing three workshops he has to be addressed to regional and world leaders. The organized in the Middle East for younger scientists. document has been delivered to Tony Blair, envoy to Plenary session six was opened by session chair the Middle East working on behalf of the USA, Russia, Sultan Abu-Orabi, Tafila Technical University (Jordan). the United Nations, and the European Union. He introduced plenary speaker Walter Kohn (Nobel Other important recommendations from the work- Laureate, University of California Santa Barbara, USA), shops are summarized as follows: who spoke on “The Power of the Sun” and screened his • A project to build a canal from the Red Sea to the recently produced video on the uses and importance of Dead Sea to generate hydroelectric power and solar cells. Alfred Abed Rabbo, Bethlehem University also to replace water lost by evaporation from (Palestinian Authority) began plenary session seven the Dead Sea should be carried forward. Middle
32 CHEMISTRY International May-June 2008 Conference Call
Eastern scientists will be looking for help from lished to facilitate exchanges of ideas among the world community in analyzing, evaluating, and Middle East scientists. Web-based resources are potentially planning and executing this bold proj- needed, including a directory of laboratory equip- ect. In general, large collaborative projects should ment and expertise plus weblinks connecting to commit a significant fraction of the project’s bud- freely available databases and software. get to support active graduate and postdoctoral • Newly-developed theories in chemical educa- student participation in the project. tion should be integrated into Middle East cur- • Regional alliances of scientists and engineers ricula. Green chemistry, energy, nanotechnology, with environmental skills should be established medicinal chemistry should be combined with the to evaluate regional environmental issues and to Systematic Approach in Teaching and Learning advise policy makers and other stakeholders on Chemistry for assessing secondary and tertiary management strategy and technological develop- students’ skills. Newly developed curricula should ment systems. be made available to secondary schools. • Innovative, efficient desalinization technologies • Commercial pharmaceutical companies should be should be developed, including more efficient encouraged to perform R&D onsite in the relevant separation filters and/or membranes; solar-pow- countries. ered water purification/desalinization systems, • Kuwait and Saudi Arabia should be encouraged and improved analyses of potential environmental to join the SESAME project. Individual scientists impacts and opportunities for more efficient utili- need to be made aware of how they can partici- zation of desalinization byproducts. pate. • Better methods should be developed for collect- ing, cleaning, treating, and appropriately reusing Concluding Observations domestic, agricultural, and industrial waste and As Zafra Lerman, chair of the Organizing Committee, grey water. noted, “Science can be a powerful force for bringing • Regional drinking and wastewater treatment and together cultures, and the Malta conference series is a testing methods should be standardized. powerful example.” The organizers met their principal • Water use strategies must be greatly improved for goals by raising the necessary funds, then bringing an Palestinian areas. For example, an isotopic ratio increased number of Middle East chemical scientists analysis of lead in Gaza waters should be carried together safely. Discussions took place among Israeli, out to determine sources of lead pollution. Arab, Persian, and Western participants, which, as • Energy problems for Middle Eastern nations with Malta I and II, can be expected to lead to fruitful should be addressed by vigorous pursuit of solar bi-national interactions. Malta III was successful for the energy options tied in with global efforts to following reasons: develop alternative energy sources. Energy devel- • Chemists from the Middle East contributed opment should be continued in Jordan to extract strongly to the sessions. Workshops were an oil by retorting bituminous rocks. important activity designed to stimulate future • Workshops and other educational programs are research cooperation. A substantial number of needed to foster development of alternative women scientists from the Middle East partici- energy R&D, sustainability and Green Chemistry, pated. disposal of chemical waste, discussion of scien- • According to participants surveyed at the close tific method and ethics of science in the Middle of Malta III, the topics addressed were relevant East, strategic plans to attract students to sci- to twenty-first century chemistry in the region. entific careers, and to educate scientists from Middle East scientists chaired all sessions. multiple disciplines in the areas of pharmacology, • Participants stated that the opportunity for inter- toxicology, pharmacy and clinical chemistry. action with other Middle East scientists was the • Centers of excellence should be developed for most important aspect of the conference. They chemical analysis and structure determination of were pleased to meet colleagues from Saudi natural products. Programs should be instituted Arabia, Kuwait and Iran, and they called for to enable short-term exchange visits by faculty, greater participation by scientists from Syria, students and postdoctorals. Turkey, Iraq, Qatar, and Yemen. • A Middle East Virtual Campus should be estab- • The poster session stimulated informal discussion
CHEMISTRY International May-June 2008 33 Conference Call
by inviting all conferees to present research. ferent cultures; and in the development of the Internet. • Participants were enthusiastic. They voted over- She added: “It’s been estimated by economists that whelmingly that a “Malta IV” conference should upwards of 40 percent of the growth in the U.S. be held in 2009 and said that they would recom- economy over the last 50 years has come from invest- mend it to their colleagues. ments in fundamental research. What is remarkable is that most of these advances grew out of research Acknowledgements in university laboratories and, often as not, research In addition to the sponsoring organizations, financial conducted by students and faculty pursuing knowl- support was provided by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus edge for its own sake with no commercial application Foundation, Humboldt Foundation, ChemRAWN in mind. This remarkable progress did not happen by XIV—ACS Green Chemistry Institute, the U.S. Civilian chance, so not happenstance.” Research and Development Foundation (CRDF), the Next, Tilghman discussed the Program for U.S. Department of Energy, the U.K. Government, International Student Assessment’s (PISA) 2006 survey, the University of Mainz, the Chemistry Division of which revealed a pessimistic picture for science in the the American Association for the Advancement of USA. PISA is an evaluation of 400 000 15-year-old stu- Science, and some 39 individual donors. The confer- dents from 57 countries. It is the result of collaboration ence organizing committee led by Zafra M. Lerman, between participating countries and the Organization thanks the distinguished lecturers and six Nobel for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Laureates for their participation. The help of many The survey revealed that for 93 percent of students, others is acknowledged with gratitude. science is important for understanding the natural world, but only 37 percent said they would like to work John M. Malin < [email protected]> was the chair of the CHEMRAWN commit- in a career involving science. The survey’s science tee in 2007; he has been involved with the committee since 1998. performance measurement showed that The Future of Science Is USA is in the 21st position out of through Its Students 30, while Finland is number one, by Laure Joumel Belgium 13, and France 19. Every year, the Chemical Heritage Foundation, based While young in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, holds the Ullyot people’s motiva- Public Affairs Lecture, which emphasizes to the gen- tions for science eral public the positive role that the chemical and achievement molecular sciences play in our lives. In November 2007, goes down, par- Shirley Tilghman, president of Princeton University adoxically, the spoke on “Strategy or Happenstance: Science Policy in scientific bud- the USA.” Tilghman chose the topic, she said, “because get follows. For I believe in the profound importance of scientific dis- the first time in covery and innovation as an engine for economic and 25 years, overall social progress.” federal spend- To make her point, Tilghman enumerated the ing in the USA Shirley Tilghman, president of Princeton University, delivers remarkable impact that science had in the 20th for academic the 2007 Ullyot Public Affairs century: the dramatic increase in life expectancy, research and Lecture at the Chemical Heritage particularly in infants; the reduction in infant mortal- development, Foundation. ity; the virtual eradication of some diseases, such as after adjusting small pox through systematic world-wide vaccina- for inflation, fell in Fiscal Year 2006. In Fiscal Year tions; the invention of household conveniences that 2004, federal funding in the physical sciences, as a have freed us from manual labor; safe drinking water fraction of GDP, was 54 percent less than in 1970. In and sanitation; the power of television, radio, and film engineering, it was 51 percent less. And although the to foster greater understanding among peoples of dif- total national R&D budget has been growing steadily
34 CHEMISTRY International May-June 2008